The following is my translation of a short article called: Bisamratten in Böhmen von Gusthav Guth. It appeared in a German popular science magazine, Kosmos Handweiser für Naturfreunde 1914, Heft 5, Seiten 227-228.
I'm not aware of any previous translation.
Trevor Dykes.

Musk rats in Bohemia by Gusthav Guth

The American musk rat (Fiber zibethicus), an impressive rodent (some 60cm long of which the rat-like tail provides about half the body length), is at home in North America and, especially, Canada. However, it now appears, due to deliberately experimental introduction, to have settled comfortably in Bohemia. Indeed, it has obviously found very suitable conditions here that are ideal for it and, with little advantage for this guest-friendly land, strong reproduction has produced a countryside infestation to compare with that of rabbits introduced into Australia, or with the water plague (Wasserpest) carried into European waters from America. The Erzbirgszeitung (Erzbirg newspaper, June 1913) reports that: "At the beginning of May, in the hunting area of the town of Sebastiansberg, an American musk rat was shot. This animal may be one of the musk rats that Fürst Colleredo-Mansfeld introduced to the palace park 4 years ago, and they appear to have reproduced among themselves."

As many sightings of the animal have been reported from southern Bohemia at the same time, one can conclude that animals released at Sebastiansberg have spread over a fairly wide area; indeed, the possibility of an extensive flood of these pests across Bohemia is not out of the question. A report on this can be found in 'Bohemia' from 28th July, 1913: "In some parts of southern Bohemia, a mass presence of the so called American musk rat can be perceived. In the ponds near Wodnan these rats have undermined the dams on the banks, and have also dug their summer burrows into the neighbouring meadows. In the large pond near Sablat in the area of Notditz, through the middle of which runs a railway embankment, these musk rats are also strongly represented, and they have undermined the railway (Bösching).

The animals are especially damaging for fish ponds, in agriculture and forestry, as they do not only excavate extensive tunnels beneath meadows and fields, but they also consume young carp, slaughter duck nestlings and so forth. So far, no sure means have been found for eradicating these vermin, and even the injection of contagious bacteria has failed. For a while they hunted because of the fur.

An index of more of my translations of old Kosmos articles can be found at:

Kosmos Translations Archive
kosmostranslations.htm

A number of Mesozoic (and post-Mesozoic) location summaries can be found at Localities.